Aron Bassoff will enter his 1st season as the Head Coach of Shorter University men’s soccer team. He has produced nine teams that have won 10+ games in a season, 11 teams that have finished with a winning record, coached in eight Region/Conference Championships (NAIA, ECAC and NCCAA) and has coached seven nationally ranked teams(NAIA, NCAA II and III, and NCCAA). Over the past eight seasons, Bassoff has led his teams to a 93-45-12 (.67%) record.
Previously, he spent the past 5 seasons at Davis & Elkins College Senators. Over the past four years, Bassoff has guided the Senators to an overall record of 47-22-6; during that time D&E has one conference regular season title, two runner-up finishes and trips to the conference tournament championship game in each of the last three seasons.
In 2014, Bassoff led the Senators to the G-MAC Northeast Division title with a 6-3 record in conference play and guided D&E to its fourth consecutive winning season with a 9-8-1 overall record. Bassoff directed a pair of first team all-league honorees in James Pucci and Declan McGill. Pucci also earned second team all-region recognition. In the classroom, Bassoff’s student-athletes earned the National Soccer Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the third year in a row.
In the inaugural season as a member of the G-MAC, Bassoff led the Senators to a regular season championship, which was just the second title in the last 27 years. D&E finished with an overall record of 12-4-2 and posted an 8-1 mark in conference play. The Senators reached the conference tournament title game, but lost in penalty kicks to Cedarville University. Bassoff was instrumental in the tutelage of All-American and G-MAC Offensive Player of the Year James Pucci. Pucci led the nation in goals (27) and points (65). Bassoff also played an important role on the other side of the ball, where Dan Savory earned G-MAC Defensive Player of the Year accolades.
While 2011 was a turnaround year, 2012 was another step forward for the men’s soccer program. The team finished 14-4-2 and qualified for the NCAA II Tournament for the first time in 25 years. The team was nationally ranked for six weeks of the season climbing as high as 18th and finishing the regular season ranked 20th in the nation. The team made it to the WVIAC tournament championship game and defeated rivals West Virginia Wesleyan College twice and no bigger was the win in the WVIAC semi-finals that sealed the team’s NCAA II tournament bid. This year’s team upped the ante with goals scored by scoring 49 and only conceding 17 goals; a goal difference of 32. The previous year’s team scored 47 and gave up 23 for a 24 goal difference. This year’s team again produced the top goal scorer and point leader in the conference, James Pucci, who scored 13 goals and had 15 assists for a total of 41 points. This also ranked him 5th in the NCAA II for total points per game and seventh in total points. His assists were tied for first in the conference and third for assists per game and tied for first in total assists in NCAA II. Keeper Moy Oseguera and the defense upped the ante for shutouts with nine, which is two more than 2011. They lowered the goals against average to .85 which was .35 goals per game less than 2011. The goals against average was 23rd in NCAA while shutouts was 24th in the NCAA. The team had six players selected for the WVIAC All-Conference Teams (two first team selections and four second team selections). The team also had four players selected to the Daktronics All-Atlantic Region teams and two players selected to the Daktronics All-American Teams. Three players were selected to the NSCAA All-Atlantic Regions Teams (two first team selections and one second team selection).
The 2011 season was a turnaround year for the men's soccer team with a record of 12-6-1, a plus seven win difference from the year before. They were nationally ranked twice, defeated then nationally ranked West Virginia Wesleyan College and after a 3-4 start would finish the rest of the season 9-2-1. The team scored 24 more goals than allowed, a difference of 30 goals from the previous year. The team finished second in the WVIAC in goals scored and goals against. Bassoff produced the conference leading goal scorer and points scorer in freshmen David Nuernberg who had 16 goals and 6 assists. The team also recorded seven shutouts with all of those shutouts coming in the last 12 games of the season. Keeper Moises Oseguera led the way with the tops in the conference in goals against at .75 per game. Splitting keeper time with Oseguera, Daniel Nock finished fourth in the conference with goals against at 1.6 per game. Bassoff had five players named to the WVIAC All-Conference teams while two players were selected to the NSCAA Atlantic Region Team and one player selected as NSCAA Scholar Athlete for the East Region team. Doing this with a team that started 10 new players from the year before, nine of whom were a part of Bassoff's 2011 recruiting class and at least eight whom were freshmen. Also, Bassoff was a member of the coaching staff for West Virginia’s Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (ODP).
While coaching the Oakland City University men’s soccer team, Bassoff lead the team to its first winning season in the program's history with a record of 10-5-3 in 2009. That year, the team also set a program record for total wins in a season. The men’s soccer program earned national rankings in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) poll and advanced to the Mid-East NCCAA Region Championship game. Additionally, he coached the U15 boys' team in the Southwest Indiana Soccer Association (SWISA).
While at the University of the Cumberlands he led the team to its first back-to-back winning seasons in seven years (16-5 in 2007 and 13-5-1 in 2008) and established the coaching record for most wins in women’s soccer program history with 43. The 2007 season proved to be a breakout year for Bassoff and the Lady Patriots. The team reversed six consecutive losing seasons with an impressive 16-5 overall record. Those 16 victories were more wins than the previous two years combined. The Patriots advanced to the championship round of the Mid-South Conference tournament and advanced to the Region XI semi-finals defeating Georgetown College twice in the process, a team that they had not beaten since 2003. Those two post-season wins were the first since the 2001 season. The 16 wins are also the second most in a season and the 16-5 record is the second highest winning percentage in a season. He was also a member of the coaching staff for Knoxville F.C., leading the U15 girls' team to the Division II State Cup Championship game and also was a member of the coaching staff for Kentucky's Olympic Developmental Program (ODP).
In his first season at Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA), he reversed men’s soccer history of six consecutive losing seasons with an 11-6-1 record. Bassoff also helped lead the teams to make history. He led the men’s team to its first ever Florida Sun Championship, its first ever NAIA regional playoff appearance, and its first national ranking. He also led the PBA women’s team to a second place finish in the Florida Sun Conference, a NAIA regional championship game, and a national ranking as high as 7th. At PBA, he was active with several youth soccer clubs and a member of the Coerver coaching staff.
Bassoff started his collegiate coaching career at Dickinson College as the assistant men's soccer coach and then as the head men's soccer coach. While at Dickinson, he was instrumental in leading the team to the ECAC South Championship title and obtaining a national ranking of 16th. They also established a record for the most wins in a season with 17. While at Dickinson College, Bassoff was the director of coaching for Premier F.C. Under his leadership, the club produced 30 collegiate players, a state-final appearance and two state semi-final appearances.
Under Coach Bassoff, his teams have still held a high standard for academics. At Cumberlands, he had 30 players receive the Academic All-Conference award, 13 receive the NAIA Scholar award and three of his teams (2007-2009) receive the NAIA Team Academic award. Additionally, he has coached 22 Academic All-American players. His 2009 team at Oakland City University also received the NSCAA Team Academic Award, finishing with a cumulative GPA of 3.0. The 2011 team at Davis & Elkins also received the NSCAA Team Academic Award with a cumulative GPA of 3.2.
Bassoff played collegiately and graduated from Messiah College with a Bachelor of Science in Sport and Exercise Science and earned a master's degree in sports management from Nova Southeastern University.
Additionally, he has obtained a USSF 'B' License, the second highest coaching license offered, and a NSCAA Premier Diploma, the highest coaching license offered. He is married to Tammy Bassoff and they have two children, Kayla and Drew, and will reside in Rome.
